James Barton (1890-1962) was an American actor, singer, dancer and comedian in vaudeville, theatre, film and television. The James Barton papers document the career and personal life of James Barton through production files, scripts, sheet music, photographs, scrapbooks, contracts, publicity materials, correspondence, and personal ephemera.

Biographical/historical information

James Barton (1890-1962) was an American actor, singer, dancer and comedian in vaudeville, theatre, film, and television. Barton was born in Gloucester City, New Jersey, into a theatrical family. His parents James Barton Sr. and Clara Barton were vaudeville performers who also managed their own repertory company. James Jr. made his debut as a child in a scene with his father and would spend the rest of his life performing.

After many years touring and appearing regionally, Barton hit the big time when he was cast in The Passing Show of 1919, produced by Broadway's reigning king, Florenz Ziegfeld. His star continued to burn bright on Broadway for the next decade or so, with roles in operettas such as The Last Waltz (1921), and The Rose of Stamboul (1922), the musical comedy Dew Drop Inn (1923), and revues such as The Passing Show of 1924, No Foolin' (1926) and Sweet and Low (1930).

Barton was mainly a comic song and dance man in these shows, famous for his drunk act, a soft shoe dance routine, which he would revive throughout his career. Barton's truly American dance style was unique in combining the dances from his own Irish-American background with dance moves he learned from African-American performers he had worked with in burlesque and vaudeville.

However, he was also a serious dramatic actor. In 1930 he starred in Arthur Hopkins' Pulitzer Prize winning play Moonshine. The culmination of the first phase of Barton's Broadway career was his starring role as Jeeter Lester in Jack Kirkland's blockbuster play, Tobacco Road (1933). Barton was not the original Jeeter, but after taking over from Henry Hull in 1934, Barton became the most celebrated Jeeter. He played the role on and off for the next 5 years, clocking in over 2,000 of Tobacco Road's 3,100 performances.

In the mid-1930s, Barton also flirted with a film career. He had starring roles in Captain Hurricane and His Family Tree, both in 1935, and a few other supporting roles, but failed to achieve movie superstardom.

Back on Broadway, Barton starred in one of many failed attempts to revive the dying musical form, the revue. Alexander Cohen's Bright Light of 1944 folded after only four performances. A more satisfying stage role came along in 1946, when Barton was hired by the Theatre Guild for a small role in Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. Shortly before the play opened, he was promoted to the lead role of Benjamin Hickman (Hickey), in what would be the greatest dramatic role of his career.

Barton went back to films for a few years appearing in dramas The Time of Your Life (1948) and The Scarf (1951); musicals The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950), Wabash Avenue (1950), and Golden Girl (1951); and the comedy Here Comes the Groom (1951).

In 1951 Barton returned to New York for another stage triumph in the musical Paint Your Wagon. Barton starred as California gold prospector Ben Rumson. The show had music by Frederick Loewe, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and choreography by Agnes DeMille. Despite a widely praised score, some critics felt that the tone of the book was too dark for a musical comedy, but all agreed that Barton was wonderful. Lerner had written the role for him and even created a spot (following his song "In Between") for Barton's legendary drunk dance.

After a break in the early 1950s, following a period of illness, Barton did a lot of television work, appearing in several episodes of Lux Video Theatre (1952-1956), Kraft Theatre (1954-1957), and Naked City (1959-1961), and individual episodes of other shows as well. He also did a few films here and there like The Naked Hills (1956) and Quantez (1957). On a brief hiatus in New York he starred in the short-lived comedy The Sin of Pat Muldoon (1957), which featured Elaine Stritch. His final film role was a brief comic bit in Arthur Miller's The Misfits (1961).

In 1912, Barton married Ottilia Kleinicke, though they separated after a few years. Later he married dancer Kathryn Mullin (known on stage as Kathryn Penman). Barton and his second wife were an extremely devoted couple for the 35 years they spent together. He died of a heart attack in Mineola, New York on February 19, 1962. Kathryn Barton died in the mid 1990s.

Scope and arrangement

The James Barton papers represent the career and personal life of American actor James Barton. The Productions Series consists of scripts and publicity materials from the theatre film and television productions James Barton performed in from the late 1890s until his death in 1962. The Sheet Music series contains scores for songs Barton performed and other popular songs of the day. Photographs include professional and candid shots of Barton, productions he appeared in, his wife Kathryn, his family, and other friends and colleagues. The Personal Files include an address book, drafts and notes for an autobiography, correspondence, diaries, membership cards, various notes and miscellany and files pertaining to professional organizations of which Barton was a member, most notably, the Lambs Club. Contracts and clippings documenting Barton's life and career are also present in the Contracts series, the Clippings Series and in the Scrapbooks series.

In addition to James Barton's papers, this collection also includes materials collected by his wife Kathryn Barton (née Mullin/Penman) for thirty years after his death. Most of this pertains to James Barton, but some of it pertains to Kathryn Barton.

One box of memorabilia including make-up, nose molds, wig base, combs and mirrors, and a single spat, has been separated to the T-Cabinet and will be available to researchers on request.

This series is largely made up of scripts and sides. Other production files present in this series are call sheets, schedules, publicity materials, programs, posters, flyers and occasionally correspondence or box office sheets. Photographs, contracts and clippings pertaining to productions can also be found in their respective series. All correspondence, including that which pertains to productions, will be found in Personal Files. Arranged in alphabetical order, by show title

This series contains sheet music for over 160 songs. Some of these songs were performed by Barton in stage and film productions. Many were used in his vaudeville acts, or perhaps submitted to him for that use. This rich collection of songs, ranging from the familiar to the obscure, will be a valuable resource for those interested in early and mid-twentieth century American popular song. Arranged in alphabetical order, by song title

This series consists of professional and candid photographs of James Barton. There are publicity shots, production stills, live performance shots, and rehearsal and on-set candids from Barton's stage film and television work. Also present are posed full body and head shots, and a smaller number of candids of Barton, his wife Kathryn Penman, his family (many of whom were also performers) and various friends and associates.

This series provides a comprehensive history of Barton's career, with contracts from the 1910s to the 196os. If looking for contracts from a particular production, they will be found in the folder(s) covering the date span that production falls under. Arranged in chronological order.

This series documents Barton's career and personal life through clippings from American newspapers and magazines from the 1900s to the 1980s. Both national and local publications are present here. After Barton's death in 1962, his wife, Kathryn Barton, continued to collect clippings pertaining to him and her, his career, and his collaborators. If looking for clippings pertaining to a particular production, they will be found in the folder(s) covering the date span that production falls under. Clippings will also be found in Series VII: Scrapbooks. Arranged in chronological order.